Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Gabrielle Giffords Spoke About Sara Plain’s Crosshairs

Do I blame Sara Palin for this attack “personally”? No, but just like all the other rightwing politicians as well as bloggers, they do not understand how their hateful and sometimes violent rhetoric is misconstrued by the seriously mentally disturbed. And there's lots of mental defectives out there!

Ultimately Congresswoman Gifford and many others did suffer those consequences, some with their lives.

6 comments:

While I agree that Palin's gun fanaticism is misplaced, I would like to point out that most persons with mental illness are not a danger to others and are more likely to be victimized than to be victimizers. Violent individuals such as this attacker are the minority, but every time such a tragedy happens, the majority of mentally ill people are further stigmatized. I also take exception to the term "mental defective." I am mentally ill, but I will no longer remain silent about being referred to by such terms as "defective" and "crazy." I am aware of what constitutes reality, I am aware of my own problems, and I would never gun down a crowd of people or commit any other such violent act. I wish that people would choose their words more thoughtfully. The millions of mentally ill individuals are people deserving of respect as much as those who have not been so diagnosed.

No one has slighted the gross population of mentally ill people.The gross population of mentally ill people... such as you... don't gun down people in cold blood, nor do they read (or care) about politics.Jared Loughner is obviously a uniquely ill person.His actions and his illness are likely quite different than yours.No one is 100% perfectly adjusted mentally.There are different levels and types of mental illness.

I am a white male that also smokes pot and suffers from depression, but I don't feel anyone is targeting me.Like you, I have no desire or intentions to go out and kill anyone, regardless that I share some of the same descriptives.

Put simply, we who call Jared crazy or a mental case are neither exaggerating, nor describing every person with mental issues as being a killer or potential killer.We are using appropriate language and descriptors for HIS unique condition and situation, not yours.The fact you can write a post in proper English and without considering that the government is controlling your grammar via mind implants, suggests you're nowhere in the same category as Jared. Calling him a nut neither exalts us ourselves as being mentally perfect, nor all mentally afflicted people as being murderers. It is an accurate description of him and not of you.And unless those "millions of mentally ill individuals" suddenly decide to start murdering people, I very much doubt most people will confuse all mentally ill people as being cold-blooded killers or even potential ones.

Furthermore, the title of this blog does not suggest that all people with mental conditions are "crazy."It doesn't even suggest that people branded with the word "crazy" are all killers or potential ones.But in no way does it somehow exclude Jared either, because most people *would* consider him a "crazy internet person."

Faycin a Croud, you are absolutely right, most people with mental illnesses are not dangerous. And I sincerely apologize if you were offended by my use of the term mental defective, but it was not intended to belittle mental illness. My own sister was mentally as well as physically disabled and in her last 11 years required 24/7 care. But rather than have her put into an institution (as I had been repeatedly advised), I kept her home with me and personally tended to her until her dying day. So I have nothing but the deepest compassion for people who suffer as she did.

There is a big difference between mental illness and being what I refer to as “defective”. Working as a nurse and as a volunteer medic on our local rescue squad for many years I can tell you that there are people out there that can (IMO) only be described as defective. These kinds of people are not ill in the sense that they are not responsible for their own actions, or don’t know what they are doing. These people are dangerous and they know exactly what they are doing. Trust me, I’ve seen the results of some of their doings first hand on the rescue squad, as well as being personally assaulted by more than one.

Do you know why doctors use the term “within normal limits”? It’s because there is nothing that can definitively be defined as normal. Everyone has, or has had some sort of mental dysfunction but that does not make them abnormal or crazy, and it certainly doesn’t make them dangerous. There is not a human being on this planet that has not been at one time or another depressed, anxious, paranoid, or experienced fear, anger, or even rage. I myself will admit to all of the above. Sometimes people just need help coping with some of these emotions, but that doesn’t make them crazy or defective either.

So again I apologize if you were offended by my comments, but there are dangerously defective people out there and it was to them that I was referring.

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Gabrielle Giffords Spoke About Sara Plain’s Crossh...":

No one has slighted the gross population of mentally ill people.The gross population of mentally ill people... such as you... don't gun down people in cold blood, nor do they read (or care) about politics.Jared Loughner is obviously a uniquely ill person.His actions and his illness are likely quite different than yours.No one is 100% perfectly adjusted mentally.There are different levels and types of mental illness.I am a white male that also smokes pot and suffers from depression, but I don't feel anyone is targeting me.Like you, I have no desire or intentions to go out and kill anyone, regardless that I share some of the same descriptives.Put simply, we who call Jared crazy or a mental case are neither exaggerating, nor describing every person with mental issues as being a killer or potential killer.We are using appropriate language and descriptors for HIS unique condition and situation, not yours.The fact you can write a post in proper English and without considering that the government is controlling your grammar via mind implants, suggests you're nowhere in the same category as Jared. Calling him a nut neither exalts us ourselves as being mentally perfect, nor all mentally afflicted people as being murderers. It is an accurate description of him and not of you.And unless those "millions of mentally ill individuals" suddenly decide to start murdering people, I very much doubt most people will confuse all mentally ill people as being cold-blooded killers or even potential ones. Furthermore, the title of this blog does not suggest that all people with mental conditions are "crazy."It doesn't even suggest that people branded with the word "crazy" are all killers or potential ones.But in no way does it somehow exclude Jared either, because most people *would* consider him a "crazy internet person." Posted by Anonymous to Crazy Internet People at January 12, 2011 7:12 AM